Giving in Grace

People often ask how and why they could give to the church here at

St Mary Magdalene. So let me outline for you some principles and some practicalities.

Principles of Giving

It’s really not about the money: First and foremost it’s about following Jesus. It is all about him. As we learn to follow Jesus so every area of our lives is affected, our work, our relationships and yes our stuff. Anything we give is in response to God’s grace towards us.

Giving what we have: Because giving is a following issue, it means that we can give our time, talents and resources to the work of God. We can get involved in our community or the church in so many ways, bringing what we have for the benefit of others.

Giving from a place of abundance: Often the more we have the harder it is to part with it. But there are two important realities to consider, firstly that we can’t take any of it with us, like Monopoly it “all goes back in the box.” Secondly, that “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it”. Anything we give comes from the abundance of God’s provision and it’s really all his anyway.

You Decide: You are not under any obligation to give to the local church. Some people may try and tell you that Christians should “tithe” from their income, but I believe that New Testament teaches something bigger than that. That we should live generously and should be givers and that includes our money, the really important bit is that you need to decide what to give and to whom.

You Plan: If you have decided to give some of your time, talents or resources then it is helpful to plan how you will do this and then to do that regularly. It makes planning for all kinds of events and activities so much easier if we have a good measure of the variety of resources available.

Give Joyfully: God loves a cheerful giver. If you want to give something to the local church or indeed anyone, then do it joyfully. If you can’t do it joyfully then it’s probably time to take a break.

Practicalities of Giving our Resources 

At St Mary Magdalene we don’t have collections with the bag being passed around because is undermines the principles above. Here are three ways that you can give your resources to support the mission of God though St Mary Magdalene and beyond.

Standing order: Giving to the local church via standing order really helps you to act regularly on what you have decided. It also helps us with our planning and is administratively very light. What you give can easily be gift aided to that we can reclaim the tax. Forms for Standing orders and gift aid are available by the Joy Box at the back of church and for download here.

Envelope scheme: if you would rather give cash regularly then doing so with the envelope scheme makes it really easy. What’s more is we can then easily reclaim the tax if you have gift aided your donation. Envelopes can be found on the Joy Box at the back of the church.

Joy Box: the joy box is out every week. God loves a cheerful giver!